3

8

802.1p

A quality of service protocol that allows different services to be classified by priority. This protocol allows applications that would suffer from delays, such as IPTV, to have a higher priority on the network.

802.1Q

A networking standard that supports VLANs on Ethernet networks.

802.3u

100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet, a standard that provides Ethernet communication at speeds of up to 100 Mbps.

C

D

E

EV

Electric Vehicle, a vehicle that runs on electricity, it may be a Plug In Electric Vehicle (PEV) that uses electricity as its primary power source, or a Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) that uses a combination of electricity and conventional energy sources.

L

M

MAC Address

Media Access Control Address, a unique identifier that is assigned to each device on the network by the manufacturer. It is used by networking equipment to address messages to specific devices. It cannot be changed by the user.

Master

The top level node in a PLC network. It functions as a head end and coordinates communication between slaves and repeaters.

Mbps

Megabit Per Second, a data transfer rate equal to 1,000,000 bits per second.

MDMS

Meter data managementsystem, a key component in a Smart Grid infrastructure that performs long term data storage and management for the vast quantities of data delivered by smart metering systems i.e. smart meters.

MDU

Multi Dwelling Unit, any building with a large number of users, such as an apartment or office building.

MV

Medium Voltage, the voltage used for electrical transmission, usually less than 50 kV, it is stepped down to LV using a transformer for distribution to customers.

N

O

OFDM

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, a communication scheme that divides the frequency spectrum into individual subcarriers, preventing noise in one part of the spectrum from interfering with other areas.

U

V

V2G

Vehicle-to-Grid, a system where plug-in electric vehicles communicate with the power grid to sell demand response services by either delivering electricity into the grid when it is needed or throttling their charging rate when the grid is under stress.

VLAN

Virtual LAN, a group of devices that behave as if they were on the same physical network, regardless of their actual location. VLANS can also be used to make devices that are on the same physical network behave as if they were on different networks.